Long Island Iced Tina
The Blurb
Mia’s newly pregnant friend Nicole plans to hold a shower at Belle View, but Nicole also has to attend one that her competitive (and mysteriously rich) stepmother, Tina, is throwing at the fanciest place in Queens. It’s a good chance for Mia to snoop on a competitor, especially since doing a search for “how to run a catering hall” can get you only so far.
Mia tags along at the lavish party, but the ambiance suffers at Nicole’s Belle View shower when a fight breaks out, and then, oddly, a long-missing and valuable stolen painting is unwrapped by the mom-to-be. Tina is clearly shocked to see it. But not as shocked as Mia is when, soon afterward, she spots the lifeless body of a party guest floating in the marina.
The Details
Series: A Catering Hall Mystery – Book #2
Author: Maria DiRico (Ellen Byron)
Genre/Category: Cozy – Amateur Sleuth/Event Planning
Publisher: Kensington Books
ISBN: 1496725352
Page Count: 288
Rating: 
The Review
Mia is a strong character who loves her family, even when they get involved in illegal activities, even when they deny they did anything wrong, and she knows they are lying. However, this time, she believes them when they say they had nothing to do with an art heist many years ago. In Long Island Iced Tina, the past comes back to haunt Mia’s friends and family, so she sets out to find the truth.
A stolen art piece shows up at the baby shower of Mia’s friend, Nicole, and Nicole’s step-mother-in-law reacts as if she has been hit by a truck. Shortly after the chaotic shower, Tina’s body is found floating in the river next to Belle View, the event space Mia and her father run. It comes as no surprise that someone murdered Tina, but there is a list of suspects a mile long. Evidence in the murder ties back to an old art heist, and the players involved have reasons to be worried and out for revenge.
The cast of characters all have a good motive, and many do not have alibis, but the finger keeps pointing to the one person it couldn’t have been, and no one, not even the police, can ignore the clues. Every member of this cast is easy to relate to in one way or another; each has a unique quality that makes them irresistible. Mia’s grandmother and father will make readers smile no matter how tense a situation, and even Mia’s brother, incarcerated, can give readers a reason to be happy. The art heist mystery, along with the murder, brings mob and cop together, with Mia, her friends, and her business associates in what could become an explosive situation.
Long Island Iced Tina will leave readers happy and satisfied with the ending. The killer is revealed just in time, and everyone is thrilled not to have a murder hanging over their heads. The art heist is solved after twenty years, and everyone is relieved when the dust settles. This is a delightful book with humor, emotional situations, and a family that loves one another. All of this combines to make this series a must for any cozy reader.
The Author
E
llen Byron was born in Queens, New York, and raised in Queens and Westchester County. She is a first-generation Italian-American on her mother’s side. On her father’s side, her grandfather was a low-level Jewish mobster who disappeared in 1933 under mysterious circumstances.
While growing up in Queens, Maria/Ellen’s cousin’s uncles ran the Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina catering halls. Ellen’s TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly
OddParents. She’s written over 200 national magazine articles, and her published plays include the award-winning Graceland. She also worked as a cater-waiter for the legendary Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. A native New Yorker who attended Tulane University, Ellen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and two rescue dogs. She still misses her hometown – and still drives like a New York cabbie.
More books by Ellen Byron/Maria DiRico readers will enjoy include, Murder In The Bayou Boneyard from the “A Cajun Country Mystery” series, or Here Comes The Body the first book in the “A Catering Hall Mystery” series.
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